The debate, a project to encourage them to stage their own debates on the very issues which the u. K. Yb are discussing in the combat. We know schools across the country are tuning in to watch and that is hugely welcome. Just on process and housekeeping, let me say the following. First, nyp who wish to speak should stand in their place, or raise their hands if seated in a wheelchair. Secondly, and most importantly, nyp should always say their name and region at the beginning of their speech. Otherwise the official record of our proceedings will be deficient. The writers will not know who you are unless you say. If you be good enough to pause, momentarily, before you start your speech, that will give an opportunity for the microphone to be activated. Your gain here youre going to hear from the leader of the house and the leader, whom is my delight to welcome here today. Leader of the house andrew, and angela. And the Parliament Tear undersecretary of state at the department of education, the childrens minister edward. Edward, andrew, angela, its a delight to have you. Before we hear from andrew and angela, i call in order to read a message from the prime minister, from yorkshire. [applause] member of the parliament, im [inaudible] we are this is your opportunity to debate by more than [inaudible] 260,000 people. [inaudible] include [inaudible] the children and the people. He has [inaudible] to listen to your [inaudible] and translate your views to the hard work of government. Your meeting today will be young people ato the opportunity to debate issues that [inaudible] its a big thing. I wish you the latest [inaudible] i look forward to hearing your debates. Thank you. [applause] thank you for reading that. That is a delight to have the prime ministers support. I now call to say some words to us, the leader of the house of commons. Mr. Andrew. [applause] thank you, mr. Speaker. [applause] thank you, mr. Speaker. Members of the youll parking lotment, im debated to that righted to welcome you for the Fourth Annual sitting. The sitting have become an accomplished part of the parking parliament calendar. They have become so well established. And leader of the house, i am the representative of the government to this house of commons. And of the house of commons to the government. But today i am pleased to be able to be here to representative both the government and the house with you the Youth Parliament. I know, what is said here today will be heard both by government and members of the house of commons. Indeed in the house yesterday, i was able to cite the debates today, and their relevance to current debates before the house commons. As Winston Churchill said in the chamber as we began to rebuild the wartime destruction in 1943 we shape our buildings and after wards our buildings shape us. Its impossible not to be influenced by these surroundings. And i know from your previous sitting here the quality of debate by members of the Youth Parliament reflect that well. The topic, selected for debate today will shape the work the Youth Parliament for the coming year. I know, too they will shape the wider political landscape. As leader of the house, a priority for me is to increase the Public Engagement with parliament through innovation like the work of the back bench here. Were making debates more assessable to member of the public. I know, todays sitting part of Parliament Work will increase engagement. This that with respect theres no clearer side of the great work that nyp is doing than a quarter of the Million People that took part in the make your mark debate. Debate have a special character by contrast, i remember myself taking part in debates in school and college, they are often rather more about style than sub science. Sometimes they appear to miss the point entirely. I remember at the student union, i was president once, we had a motion which instructed the United States to remove its troops instructed the United States that is a bit of big ask. Here in this place, debates are different. Debates have consequences. The most significant speeches are not necessarily the most stylish or the most fluid. They are the ones born of knowledge, of passion, of commit, and of concern. Most of all, they are made by those who are here not only to speak for themselves, but to represent the people. Todayed that is your opportunity, to speak out, based on your convictions and concerns to speak for young people whom you represent. And to speak out on issues which are relevant and where you can exert an influence inspect doing so, it will be in the best tradition of parliament democracy. Before i finish, can i pay tribute to the administrate colleague. The administrate of children and families who is responsible for improving opportunity for young people and specifically for the support which the government provides to the Youth Parliament. I would like to pay tribute to his predecessor a member of parliament who is a passionate and vocal supporters of the Young Parliament inside and outside government. Mr. Speaker ilgd like to thank you and the officers of the house and how was service who helped prepare for today and many staff including may i say from my own office who have volunteered their time to welcome members of the Youth Parliament had this morning. Members, i wish you well. I hope you will enjoy your time here and leave this place inspired by the surroundings, by the debate you will have, the decisions you reach, and inspire perhaps some of you to return here as members of Parliament One day in the future. Thank you. [applause] andrew, thank you for that. Before i ask angela to say some words, i reference the fact that a number of colleagues are here present to support the parliament, peter, you are referred to the former childrens minister. Tim, its great to see you in your police. We have immediately behind tim karenback from regions that was constituency name. It was exchanged by the area its in london. We are pleased to see her. Thank you for coming. We have andrew in the gallery from hyatt peak. We have [inaudible] the member of parliament who is in the gallery as well. Colleagues are here to support you and colleagues its great to see you here. I call the leader of the house, angela. [applause] [applause] thank you, mr. Speaker. I would like to thank my opposite in the chamber, the leader of house for his warm words and welcome to you, i, of course echo. If i can offer you some advice about before you start your debate today, i would say respect each others contributions, we always demonstrate an our proceedings how much we follow that particular plft particular thing. Make your arguments be passionate about what you believe. Because thats what politics is all about. I should warn you there are not to make the same mistake from one ap from the government bench made earlier year this year. Unique in the parliament, mr. Speaker, he interrupted his own speech when his musical tie went off. [laughter] and i can tell you, he got an angry look from the Deputy Speaker in the chair. You can see it on youtube if you are interested. [laughter] hopefully you have silenced any such gadgets you brought with you. If you havent, i can tell you they will most certainly sabotage you by going off when you are in mid flow. Everything on silent, gadgetted turned off and hopefully not brought. Since though its worth sitting in to the Youth Parliament has been a powerful one to young people across the country. When you finish, i hope youll go back home and tell your friends and your classmates about todays debate and help get more young people engaged in the political realm. I have always said if you dont do politics, you have it done to you. [inaudible] you choose ton address the important issues. Transport, employment, marriage equality, and education. These are the issues that this has debates regularly. And im sure your insights will inform our debates too. The current financial crisis has hit young people hard. 150,000, 16 to 24yearold have been unemployed for more than six months. Its more important now than ever to stand up and make your voices heard. Today is part of that. All three Major Political parties have shown an interesting in lowing the voting age to 16. Hope you can be ambassador to show your generation are engaged, passionate and key to getting involved in the political process. [inaudible] the parliament why you understand that politics is not a spectator sport. You have shown that your willing to take responsibility for articulating the vision of young people today. And you have shown you care about what is going on in our society. And you want to change it to the better. Its been a wish mine to see more women involved in politics. We need the voices of women and girls to be heard across the world. If were going to make our society fairer and more equal. I would like to offer a particular welcome to the women who are here today. Be proud and speak out. Finally, today is really about politicians like me talking about you. Its about debating issues that you have decided on that affect you most. Dont be nervous. Enjoy it. And i hope you remember the experience for years to come. [applause] angela, thank you for that. Colleagues in case youre not aware. Each debate is expected to run for approximately twenty five minutes in total. So there cant formal limit on speech length from the back benches. You realize were looking for very short speeches. And ill try to accommodate as many colleagues as i can in the course of the day. Order, order. The Youth Parliament will consider the first motion of the day relating to public transport as printed on the order paper. To move the motion, i call from the northeast of england, mr. [inaudible] [applause] thank you, mr. Speaker. Public transport is a fundamental part of the lives of young people. I am a younger cousin, and i look in dismay in the idea that he and many other young people alike face a daily struggle to get to work, school, and doctors appointments. Despite the work over the past year, public transport is still not up to scratch. Thats why young people across the United Nations have public transport the absolute priority here today. The very idea that we send our young people trudging through snow to get to school in rural areas have no other alternative is outrageous. More than one in five students have considered dropping out of the education because of financial difficulties. I do not blame them. In the eyes of Public Transport Companies [inaudible] at the age of 16 or even 1 despite being legally a child, despite being an education, despite earning next to no North Carolina at all. Students are encouraged to achieve their potential, but simply struggle to afford to get to school or college. Almost 50 of 16 to 18yearolds say they struggle to meet the transport costs. Lets put this to context. This is a approximately six million u. K. Citizens equating to the population of par guy refuse the right to fulfill their academic potential. Its not the only factor on the burden on our shoulders for young people. [inaudible] it must be improved today. An joamp whemming 77 of people [inaudible] public transport both infrequent and [inaudible] the government claims britain can deliver. On their right. But is this really the type of public transport we want delivering on the youth of today to hundred or punks wallty to decline our opportunity . No. No no. No. This sunt isnt just about convenience or public transport itself. But about young people being late for work, school, and doctors appointments. The consequence of this, costing jobs, costing grades, costing nhs. We must ask ourself today do we want to become a catastrophic hind drains upon our employers. Destruct our teachers and obstruct our health service. No, no, no. The opposition arguement is like discredit our effort claiming its not enough campaign merely deserve the focus of divide region. Over the past year, we have seen great progress [inaudible] leading the way. But just as the u. K. Deficit is not balanced with the government public transport issue are not solved in one year. Were public transport continued a national priority. We cant [inaudible] for the like of my young cousin. We can deliver more transport to get students from point a to point b. We can build a better, Brighter Future for young people. So when the opposition argument say its not a National Campaign, a focus of the divided region. I tell you this, divided we are weak, but united are the nation we are strong. More nation, one notion, one campaign. Better public transport. [applause] [applause] thank you very much ib keyed for that. I note we have been joined by the former government chief when the labour party was in office nick browne. The member of parliament. Its great to have you here. Thank you for coming. To oppose the motion, i call from the east of england. [applause] thank you, mr. Speaker. We are here for one reason. To make contain and empower the young people that we so proudly represent. But, the Parliament Campaign for the next year to be made public transport better, and acceptable for both. We are not giving the young people that we have [inaudible] the justice they deserve. [inaudible] have been the campaign for the last year. We have not achieved the goal of making transport cheaper, better, and exceptional. So this year, lets pay that is more assessable to be reached. Which one question impact instead of continually [inaudible] our Campaign Year after year. We are here to make contain [inaudible] campaign that is not reachable. In apartmentment we are protect our Youth Services and civilities. We continue to see [inaudible] local governments and local consulates to keep these facilities. So with reable to be here today at the house of parliament. By asking the cheaper transport and the safety of our Youth Services, we are [inaudible] at risk. We must focus on one campaign. Not bomb board the government with everything we would like to change. More over, it is an issue not a national one. In the northeast of england, they have a system of transport in comparison to london. London already has great discount to young people on both buses. And i think all the yp with london that this campaign was not be relevant to them. This is highlight how hard concentrated work of the campaign would be. Also, there is a [inaudible] debatable some of us here today. If you were age 16 to 25. It can be [inaudible] to suggest 28 pounds and give you a train fare. Its not just fantastic [inaudible] must be taken by us and promoted by us. Instead of us spending another year on the unRealistic Campaign. Finally, as a whole country, we have an public transport service. Of course, there are going to be problems with it. We are human after all. Lets stop complaining and focus other campaign [inaudible] vital, valuable and realistic this year. A review of the curriculum [inaudible] we do not need transport at the campaign. If you are unhappy go and do something about it. Make it change locally. So nationally we can bo focus on another more effective campaign. So i plead with you here today to not vote for the u. K. Parliament campaign for the next year to be made public transport cheaper, better, and acceptable for all. Think. Do you want an effective curriculum to prepare us for life . Teach us about politics . [inaudible] education and [inaudible] which can be achieved in a year . Or do you want to drag out the Campaign Making public transport cheaper, better, and assessable for all . For at least another year . Its your decision. [applause] thank you very much indeed. We have two great speeches to get us to a cracking start. And im not looking for contributions from the floor, yes. The first person i saw was the young woman there. [inaudible conversations] yes. Start by saying name and area. From North York Shire. As were awear and public transport is a big issue [inaudible] and again this is debate. Im from North York Shire we run the [inaudible] this summer which allows young people to travel on buses for one pound for a whole day. The scheme was a great achievement it was only one county wide and by the north [inaudible] council therefore we came across many barriers for a staff not all of us complete [inaudible] and when they did it was often on their own term. In addition it was very hard for us to promote it being youth council. We didnt do it justice it deserved. Im trying to say is that this surely is something that question stand there and say like we did last year this is the most important campaign. Unless the government listens to us, our makes a National Policy for nationally [inaudible] transport for young people, nothing is going to change. [applause] and we have a speaker speaking from the southwest. A couple from the southwest . Yes. The gentleman in the back with his yes indeed. You sir. [laughter] [inaudible] in the southwest. Ive been here for two years now, i can tell you the Biggest Issue for my constituents is transport. My constituents have to pay 600 pounds for transport pass if they want to go to college. And of course next year nationally going to college or staying in education will be compulsory. Of course its a National Issue to make sure the people arent paid to stay in education. Its a National Campaign, lets stand united lets stand against the transport company. Lets make sure that young people have cheaper and more assessable transport. I can tell you there are a lot of people in the room who really need it. Okay. Thank you. [applause] have we got somebody from the West Mid Lands . Somebody from the West M